They met one another with an impact, his arms coming around her to hold her close, while her arms came up to wind themselves around his neck as she lifted her face up to his.
And then, all his well-thought-out resolves against making her his evaporated, as though they had been mere shadows within his mind. He kissed her once, deeply, then again, caressing her lips over and over with a passion that is felt by a man when he is hungry for a feast set out before him.
Even knowing he was going against his own decision regarding her, he couldn't resist deepening their kiss until, quite naturally, he began making love to her with lips and tongue alone. How was it even possible to resist her?
With her enticing scent and the feel of her curves within his arms, he could not allow so much as a feather's depth to come between them. And, he rained his kisses upon her lips, her cheeks, her eyes, her nose and then down to her neck before lifting his head up to taste her lips again.
Surely sanity would soon insert itself between them. But, it was not to be. He tried, when he came up for breath, to tell her he could never become her husband, but then she reached up to envelop his face within both her hands, and when she brought his head down to hers and she kissed him with a passion that had not been a part of her demeanor two winters ago, his mind blanked out everything but her.
She scooted, if it were possible, even closer to him, her curves fitting perfectly within his hard contours. And, then it became too much to bear. Such fervor, such kissing, though fulfilling, was simplynotenough.
Lifting her up into his arms, he told his pet, "Guard the horses," while he trod toward a strand of willows that were hugging the shoreline of the fast-running stream in the canyon.And, with every step, he kissed her over and over, inhaling again the welcome and enticing scent of her.
Pausing for a moment, she whispered, "Let us become man and wife now, as we should have done so long ago. You know what I ask?"
He found he could only nod.
She whispered, "This is right. I know it's right. The need to feel you against me is more than I can stand. Do you feel it, too? I must have your body against mine as we become one, this which we should have done years ago."
Not even a weak protest rose up within him, and, although he knew he should voice his doubts about the wisdom of what they were about to do, when she lifted her face up close to his neck and when she commenced to shower his neck with one kiss after another, he knew he was lost. And, as a feeling of ecstasy fled like fire through his body, he surrendered to her. How could he not?
It occurred to him that during these last two winter counts their passion for one another had been simmering within the both of them, awaiting only this moment when they would reunite with one another.Niiitá'p,it was as though what had been a love between them then had been only a whisper compared to what they were feeling now.
The strand of willows wasn't far away, and when he came into the trees' welcome shelter, seeking asylum from any wandering war party, he surrendered to the beauty of her. Indeed, in the state he was in, it was almost impossible to spare a thought about fighting and war. Yes, a war party might know someone was nearby because of Red Fox's and Poka'aki's ponies. But, knowing his pet wolf would warn him if there were a war party in sight, he spared only a moment worrying about the possibility.
With her enveloped so close within his arms, he found it impossible to keep his hands and his lips from her, and he kissed her neck and her cheeks over and over, using both lips and tongue to caress her as he trod quickly to a spot beneath a willow tree that would easily give them shelter.
At last, the present moment met the exact time two winters ago when they had almost accomplished the deed which would have made them a man and his woman. It could not be denied; this passion between them had been left there to simmer all this time, lying dormant within them both, awaiting only a single touch to restore it.
He didn't spare a moment to remember why all those winters ago he had stopped himself from making love to her. True, both their families might, at this very moment, object to a union between them. But, although his family was important to him, who were they to object? They didn't know; they didn't experience the passion, the beauty and the all-encompassing love between himself and Poka'aki.
This was right…so very right. It had to be right. Nothing as beautiful and soul-fulfilling as this could be wrong.
So beautiful was his adoration for this woman, tears gathered within his eyes. And, when he settled himself beneath the willow tree that seemed to be waiting for them so patiently, he brought her down with him as he sat, and, settling her onto his lap, it was she who whispered into his ear as she gently kissed it, "I wish to make love to you, Red Fox."
If there were any remaining negative thoughts about making this woman his own, those dark images vanished into the atmosphere surrounding them.
He moaned, and his voice was shaking when he whispered, "I, too. I, too, want this. But, I fear I do not know how to remove your clothes without tearing them. They are foreign to me."
When she said, "I will do it," he rejoiced.
But, he was to see that she didn't take off her clothes at all. Instead, she pulled up her dress and, with only a few quick motions, she was bare where it mattered, and, almost at once, they became one in the dance of love, she having to do most of the work since she was sitting above him. But, she seemed to do so most willingly.
This was the outlet they each one had been yearning for. Distance and time between them hadn't mattered at all. Their need was alive within them, had been kept alive within them both all this time.
They would have this moment.
He kissed her over and over again with lips and tongue as they began the dance of love, and he was greatly pleasured when he realized she had not been with another man during this time. In response to her, he almost completed their dance before it had begun. Quickly though, he held himself in check, and then all thought ceased as he gave her all the pent-up love of these past few winter counts.
They kissed and they kissed as they gave to one another. And, this dance, as pure as it was, appeared to be centered in a moment set out of time, the essence of who he was meeting the spirit of who she was, and he felt himself become as one in both body and spirit with her. It happened at the crescendo of their love, and as he floated upward with her, he knew a truth as surely as the sun shines in the sky: he had to find a way for them to be together in this life. There could be nothing less.
And, when they had temporarily savored the passion between them, neither one of them moved, until, all at once, the urge seemed to come over them again, and he loved her over and over as though there might not be a tomorrow for them. And, as he again became close in spirit to her, he knew there could beno hiding the truth of their love for one another from others, nor was there even a thought of doing so within his mind.
When, at last, their thirst for one another had been appeased, at least for the moment, they sat there beneath the beautiful gently-waving willows, relishing in their love for one another. Neither one of them moved to end their embrace.
However, even a moment set out of time eventually has to match its rhythm to the world around it, and as they reentered into the time stream of this world, they kissed again.
"I love you," he confessed. "But, although I am certain you know this, there are many problems we now face."
